


Turning Points

by insanityinside



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2020-11-08 06:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20830604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanityinside/pseuds/insanityinside
Summary: It didn't have to turn out like this...A collection of one-shot AUs, mostly of the fix-it variety.





	1. A Mother's Duty

**Author's Note:**

> Starting from the end. This one is only barely AU. If it's AU at all.

The beam collapses, blocking the entrance to the hidden passage, but at least Hyakkimaru is safely out of here, his body, for better or worse, complete, his entire life ahead of him. Jukai stares at the burning debris, feeling like he has finally accomplished something in his life. If this is the end for him, he feels, it is a better end than he deserves.

‘Excuse me, kind sir?’ A feminine voice interrupts his train of thought ‘You still haven’t told me who you are... ’

He ought to tell her, once again, that his identity really doesn’t matter anymore, but he is reminded of another conversation, several months ago. He cannot resist.

‘I’m afraid I might be the true cause of your misfortune, My Lady,’ he says ‘Hyakkimaru calls me _Mama_.’

He can’t help smiling as he says this, like a man simply telling his friend about a cute and funny thing his child did. As though people hadn’t died, as though these were not their last moments, as though everything around them wasn’t on fire. Oddly enough, Lady Nui smiles too.

‘You gave him that body, didn’t you?’ she says ‘You raised him. You gave him life, like a mother does.’ Her delicate chuckle seems out of place amidst the roar of the flames and soon it dies down, replaced by uncontrollable sobbing. ‘Like I never could!’

Jukai takes a step closer to the woman. He wants to say something, but everything that comes to mind seems trivial and meaningless. He wants to put a comforting arm around her shoulders, but, even in these dire circumstances, it seems inappropriate for someone like him to touch a high-born lady so casually. Instead, he just hovers next to the lady, trying to somehow be there for her without intruding.

The boy, Tahomaru, Hyakkimaru’s brother (Up close Jukai can see just the slightest hint of a resemblance), stirs feebly in his mother’s lap. He is wounded, bleeding and exhausted from the fight. If he is lucky, he might completely lose consciousness before the flames engulf him.

‘I could not be there for either of them.’ The mother still weeps. Jukai reaches out, almost, but not quite, placing a hand on her trembling shoulder. She turns to him.

‘I cannot let it end like this.’ Her eyes are shining with something more than tears.

‘Mother...’ Tahomaru mumbles. She looks down at him again.

‘I will not let you die, my child,’ she whispers ‘I will give you a chance at life, like a mother should.’

She lifts the boy's head up to her chest, cradling it in her arms like a baby. Then she carefully lays him back down on the floor and stands up.

‘Come, sir.’ She turns to Jukai again. ‘I think I can still find a way out, but I cannot carry him on my own without making his injuries worse.’ Her stubborn determination seems so familiar right now. ‘And, of course, he is going to need your help once he is out of here.’

‘My Lady,’ the doctor protests ‘How do you even know that I can help him?’

‘You kept Hyakkimaru alive,’ she says ‘The best I could have done was let him die in my arms. Clearly you are some kind of miracle-worker.’

Jukai shakes his head, but he can feel a smile creeping onto his face. There is a warm feeling inside him that has nothing to do with the heat of the fire.

‘Come,’ the lady says ‘My child needs you.’

A few seconds pass in silence before Jukai finally bends down and very gently picks up Tahomaru. What else is there to do? Another injured child needs his help and, once again, he is ready to see it through. The boys’ mother begins to walk. She treads cautiosly, searching for a safe path through the burning ruins of her home. He follows. There is still work to do.


	2. A New Alliance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're entering actual AU territory.

‘Mutsu!’

‘Sis!’

They caught up with her just as she was opening the heavy doors. She turned around, startled, and nearly let go, but then she shook her head and desperately pulled at the door again with her one remaining hand, with all the strength she had left. Hyogo caught the door before it fully closed behind his sister. Tahomaru ran in after her.

The place had changed since the last time they were there. Nearly all of the statues were now damaged, some merely cracked, others completely broken in half. Somehow this made the only one that still remained fully intact seem all the more ominous. There was something about it that Tahomaru’s senses couldn’t quite pick up on a conscious level, but it made him uneasy even so.

‘What are you doing in here?’ he asked.

For a moment Mutsu looked guilty, more because of his tone than anything else. She stood her ground nonetheless.

‘I intend to appease the demon.’ Her voice was quiet, but firm.

‘How are you going to do that?’

‘If it wants a sacrifice of human flesh,’ Her voice barely trembled as she said this ‘It can have mine.’

Behind her, Hyogo let go of the door, which slammed heavily. He walked up to Mutsu in one long stride.

‘Sis! You can’t just... You didn’t even tell anyone... ’

‘That's because I knew the two of you would try to talk me out of it.’ A shadow of a smile appeared on her pale face. ‘You are good people, both of you. But you must not let that get in the way of doing the right thing.’

Tahomaru opened his mouth to protest. It was like that time, by the lake, with the giant crab. Back then he had shot down Mutsu’s plan and he had known exactly why he was doing it. Because he just wasn’t the kind of person who feeds people to monsters. He was not someone who would sacrifice the life of someone close to him just like that. And because he'd had a plan that didn’t involve sending anyone into certain death. Now he felt as though the whole thing had happened a very long time ago, in a different world, in a different life, perhaps even to a different Tahomaru. How much had he changed since that day? How much had he really grown? Or was the only difference that this time he really didn't have any other plan? And still he was filled with a childish, selfish urge to stop her.

‘In this state,’ Mutsu said ‘I cannot be of much use to you or to this land in any other way.’ She turned to her brother and pulled him into a one-armed embrace ‘Goodbye.’

‘But...’ he tried to protest.

‘If I die here today, it will not be in vain.’ She looked at Tahomaru. ‘I believe that you can ensure that, Young Master.’ Then she turned her back on both of them, facing that strangely terrifying statue. ‘Please, leave me alone now. It’s not safe to interfere.’

A chill ran down Tahomaru’s spine, as he looked up, once again, at the sculpture. There seemed to be something going on with it, just outside of his perception. It was like a glow that his eye couldn’t quite see or a sound that bypassed his ears and went straight for the heart, filling it with inexplicable dread. The demon’s eyes were carved from the same wood as the rest of the statue, yet they seemed to be watching him. Its arms were completely motionless, yet, at the same time, they seemed to be reaching in his direction. And it was the only one still standing...

‘Wait!’ He grabbed Mutsu’s shoulder and she turned to face him one more time ‘This isn’t right!’

‘I assure you...’

‘No,’ he said ‘What I mean is... ’ He paused for a moment, unsure how to describe what exactly was wrong here without using the word _everything_. He took a deep breath and went on. ‘I don’t think this... being... can be appeased like this anyway.’

The siblings were both watching him now, furrowing their brows.

‘What do you mean?’ Mutsu asked ‘How can you know that?’

There was a moment of silence. Then Tahomaru spoke, lowering his voice, as though this could prevent the demon from hearing him.

‘Well... Did either of you notice something last time we encountered Hyakkimaru?’

Hyogo shrugged.

‘He didn’t look any different,’ he said ‘Only angrier.’

‘My point exactly,’ Tahomaru whispered ‘There is only one demon left. If Mother is right, it is the one that didn’t get anything out of the deal. Yet, his body has not been restored.’

He paused for a moment to let it sink in. Mutsu glanced nervously at the statue. Hyogo’s gaze followed hers. It was weird to see him so frightened.

‘I’m afraid,’ Tahomaru continued ‘that it already got what it wanted, took it from the others somehow, and it is still throwing a fit.’

‘A fit?’ Mutsu repeated.

‘There is something going on, you know,’ Hyogo said quietly ‘Besides us losing their protection. Of course, I was only a child _back then_... I didn’t know any other life... But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t quite as bad before... _you know_...’

They knew. There was no reason to make him say it out loud in this place.

Mutsu sighed heavily, as though disappointed that she wasn’t going to die today after all. Tahomaru supposed he could understand her. If her desperate plan was not going to work, how could she help at all? And if there was something Mutsu hated, it was feeling useless. But in the end she allowed her brother to lead her back out of the Hall of Hell.

‘But then,’ She turned her worried gaze at Tahomaru once they were outside ‘what are we going to do? Now that -’

‘You are going to go back to your room,’ he said firmly ‘You need to rest. And you,’ he turned to Hyogo ‘must go with her and make sure she does that.’

‘What about the demon?’

‘If it is not on our side, then we are better off without it.’

‘Young Master!’ Hyogo exclaimed. His sister’s gasp turned into a coughing fit. He thumped her lightly on the back a couple of times. ‘Surely you’re not going to fight it?’

To be honest, the thought terrified Tahomaru, but he was not going to admit it.

‘What else is there that I can do?’ His voice barely trembled at all.

‘With respect, Sir, you cannot face that thing on your own!’

‘I know.’

‘Then what will you do? We are in no condition to fight.’

Tahomaru grinned, like a madman, if his retainers’ expressions were anything to go by.

‘I will seek out another ally,’ he said ‘One who has more experience in these matters than we do.’

They stared at him as though he had three eyes or something equally weird.

‘Young Master?!’

‘You can’t possibly mean -?’

‘I know we did not part on friendly terms. But if there is one thing he is likely to help me with, it’s this.’

* * *

The horse ran like mad. It kicked, bit, trampled everything that got under its hooves and occasionally set things on fire. Hyakkimaru no longer had any control over what it did. He held on as best he could with his legs, his swords flailing wildly, adding his own contribution to the destruction. Even if he could stop the raging beast, he didn't want to. It was headed for Daigo’s castle, which was just where he wanted to go. Anyone who got in the way was the enemy, so he didn’t care how many people got trampled to death. But then he sensed a familiar aura approaching. And there was something different about it. Underneath him, the fiery horse raged on. With no hands and not much knowledge of horse riding, Hyakkimaru had no way of stopping it. He allowed himself to fall off and quickly rolled away from under its hooves. Not far from him, Tahomaru dismounted somewhat more gracefully. He made a few steps forward. Hyakkimaru raised his swords, but Tahomaru was not drawing his. There was no hostility in his soul. He seemed... nervous.

‘Brother,’ he said. That word again. Hyakkimaru now knew that it meant roughly the same as what Dororo called him, although when two words meant almost the same thing, it was usually more complicated. Still, he had not heard him use that word since that moment, before they fought for the first time, when Tahomaru’s soul was conflicted and uncertain and his decisions could go either way. And right now it looked very much like that again.

‘I did not come here to fight you,’ Tahomaru said ‘We do not have to fight each other anymore. We have a common enemy now and...’ He hesitated, strange patterns swirling in his soul. ‘I need your help.’

Hyakkimaru lowered his blades. He listened and Tahomaru talked for quite some time. He explained everything.

‘Tahomaru... ’ Hyakkimaru whispered. He wanted to say something more, but words were still tricky sometimes and this was one of those situations. He wanted to give him a hug, but, with his hands wrecked, with the swords out, that would be tricky too, and could be mistaken for an attack. But that wasn’t going to be a problem forever. Soon he would shake hands with his brother.


	3. Responsibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter and the next one gave me some trouble. For a while I couldn't decide which ideas should go in which story. I tried to merge them together, split them into three separate stories, move scenes from one to the other. But eventually I settled on this.  
I'm not entirely happy with the chapter titles, but I decided to add some anyway. I might change them later.

Daigo Kagemitsu waited with a small group of his men in the field outside of his castle. He wanted to greet his returning son, and hopefully congratulate him, publicly. But Tahomaru was taking his time. Daigo was begining to get impatient. Not that he doubted that he would complete his mission. Sure, the boy had made it abundantly clear that he would never do what his father had done, but he understood why it was too late now to back out. What was done was done and allowing it to be undone could only end in disaster. And if he tried, Tahomaru would surely succeed. His father had given him control over a few dozen men, which, frankly, seemed like a little much, just to hunt down one person. And even if Tahomaru still decided, honorable as he was, to defeat the enemy in a fair one-on-one duel, Mutsu and Hyogo had clear instructions to step in anyway at the slightest sign of trouble. Hyakkimaru was as good as dead.

After a while Tahomaru’s troops started to emerge from behind a hill. Soon Daigo could make out his son riding at the front, flanked by his two loyal companions. He sat on his horse with his back straight and his head held high. But as they got closer, Daigo’s attention was drawn to two other riders. They sat together on one one horse, riding behind Tahomaru, two vagabonds dressed in rags. A small child and a young man.

‘I see that you’ve decided to take him alive,’ Daigo said after they had exchanged formal greetings ‘Why?’

‘I wanted to come,’ Hyakkimaru spoke up before anyone else could say anything. It was only then that Daigo noticed it. Neither he nor the child who accompanied him was tied or bound in any way. They were not prisoners. This wasn’t right.

Tahomaru looked around at the two not-prisoners behind him before looking his father in the eye. When he spoke, his voice was loud and clear. He wanted to be heard by everyone present.

‘Father,’ he said ‘I saw and heard many things on my journey through the lands outside your domain. I saw war, famine and disease. I saw human suffering...’

‘Then surely you understand me better than ever?’

Where the hell was he going with this?

‘And I saw it all made even worse,’ Tahomaru continued, barely acknowledging the interruption ‘by the consequences of your actions. There are towns out there, ruined, abandoned, overrun with ghouls. There are places where people disappear without a trace. People there live in fear not only of the forces of nature, but also of the unnatural. Did you think your demonic allies were making life better? They are making it so much worse just outside your borders.

‘And when I finally found Hyakkimaru, he and Dororo’ He gestured indicating the child ‘ told me more. Well, mostly Dororo did... They have seen what those demons are capable of’

‘One of them tried to eat me!’ the child, Dororo, interjected ‘Good thing Bro was there.’

‘Yes,’ Tahomaru said ‘They attack and kill people. Up in the mountains one of them used to demand regular sacrifices by raining ash on the villages. Others poison the minds of humans, turning them into killers. And then there was this one town whose lord tried to buy its prosperity by burning down a temple full of children and letting a demon devour them all.’ Tahomaru’s glare was becoming uncomfortable ‘There were nearly fifty children in there. Fifty innocent lives for the slightly improved wellbeing of a single town. Is it just me, or are the demons getting greedy?’

Daigo let out a short humorless laugh.

‘I see,’ he said ‘that it could have turned out worse for us. We have been lucky, I suppose.’

‘For now,’ Tahomaru said grimly ‘But what will you do if they continue to demand more?’

A few seconds passed before Daigo composed his reply.

‘For this land,’ He gestured broadly ‘for its people, I am willing to do whatever it takes. I have already proven once,’ Here he glanced meaningfully at Hyakkimaru. ‘that I am willing to give anything to protect it.’

He spoke loudly, to everyone within earshot. If they had to know the truth, they should at least hear his side of the story. His reputation, his honor, depended on it.

Tahomaru smiled. He'd been waiting for this. He had set a trap and Daigo had walked right into it.

‘You say’ he said slowly ‘that you are willing to give up anything to ensure that this land prospers? Does this mean that you would even give up your own power over it?’

The crowd was watching expectantly. Each of these men had a family or friends and soon all these people would hear all about whatever happened next. One wrong move and Daigo might regret it for the rest of his life. But he was not ready to give up just yet. He could still turn this around by suggesting something Tahomaru couldn’t possibly accept.

‘Oh,’ he said calmly ‘Is that what this is about?’ He looked over Tahomaru’s shoulder and Hyakkimaru, who had been quietly listening in on the conversation ‘Have you come to claim your birthright?’

‘Huh?’

The child tugged at the front of Hyakkimaru’s kimono and, when he leaned down, whispered something in his ear. While this happened, Daigo looked from one of his sons to the other to see the look of utter shock and confusion on both of their faces.

‘I... don’t want it,’ Hyakkimaru said after a brief moment of stunned silence. Tahomaru relaxed somewhat, but that wasn’t the end of it, oh no! Daigo laughed.

‘You don’t, do you?’ he said ‘You do not want to take responsibility for the mess that you made?’

Once again, Hyakkimaru was silent for a moment. He still needed time to put the words together.

‘You made it,’ he said at last.

Tahomaru smiled.

‘Thank you, Brother,’ he said ‘I wouldn’t have put it better myself.’ He turned to his father ‘You have made a mess, which you are unable to clean up. I used to admire you. I used to think that you were a good leader. But all you really did was rely on untrustworthy allies. You cannot hide your bad decisions just by calling them good. For the good of this land and the people in it,’ he said ‘you would do best to hand it all over to me. Or,’ His smile was almost, but not quite, cruel. ‘were you only ever ready to give up what was never yours to begin with?’

At this point Daigo had to admit that he was losing. There was only one defense left that he could think of. Even if it failed to let him hold on to his power, showing concern would at least help him preserve his digninty.

‘And then what will you do?’ he asked ‘How do you plan to solve this land's problems?’

But Tahomaru had an answer prepared for that as well. Daigo supposed that he should be proud of him.

‘I will do my best to prepare for any disaster that I can,’ he said ‘I will store food in case of famine. I will not start any wars I cannot win. I will make plans for drought and flood and fire. I do not pretend to have all the answers myself, but I am ready to take advice. Even from you.’

‘Hmph.’

‘I have seen things on my journey that inspired me. I saw places where crops fail, but people do not starve. I saw villages that had been destroyed and rebuilt. And if other people can do it, surely we can too.’

‘Will you -?’

‘Allow things to return to normal? Yes,’ said Tahomaru ‘Eventually. Hyakkimaru has agreed, under certain conditions, to give me time to prepare for the inevitable.’ Behind him the child whispered something that Daigo couldn’t hear and Hyakkimaru nodded his head. ‘Furthermore, our young friend,’ Tahomaru gestured toward the child ‘has recently come into posession of a large sum of money, which he is willing to loan me, under certain conditions, of course.’

‘Hey!’ Dororo interrupted ‘I never said you could have _all_ the money! I’m keeping half of it to myself!’

Tahomaru turned around to look at him.

‘I’ve been meaning to ask,’ he said ‘What are you even going to do with all that money?’

The child smiled in a way that tried too hard to look innocent.

‘Oh, you know,’ he said ‘I’ll probably buy a house, and some land to grow my own food, and... Oh yeah! I’ll use the rest of it to keep you in check. I can arm some villagers, you know, and if I don’t like how you run the place, I’ll start a rebellion.'

Tahomaru was a little taken aback.

'Oh, but if you treat your people well, you have nothing to worry about!’ The child said all this with a big friendly smile, but Daigo could tell not all of it was a joke. It was time to see if his heir was really willing to take good advice.

‘If I were you,’ he said ‘I’d have the brat arrested.’

Tahomaru shook his head, smiling, as though he wasn’t taking the threat entirely seriously.

‘No, Father,’ he said ‘He’s making a good point. We are responsible for this land and we should be held accountable in some way.’

The child let out a happy sigh.

‘It’s just what Papa would have wanted.’


	4. Undone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a while I considered skipping this one, but in the end I decided the collection won't be complete without it.   
I guess to make it a proper fix-it, I'd have to address the negative consequences of undoing the deal, but then the story would end up being too similar to the previous one. So this is what I ended up with.

‘Are you sure this is the right thing to do?’ Hyogo asks.

His sister shrugs.

‘This was not our choice to make,’ she says ‘Fortunately.’

They are both leaning with all their weight on the door of the Hall of Hell, trying their best to keep it shut. The demonic wind pushes back strongly.

‘What if he gets hurt, though?’

‘I will never forgive myself.’ Mutsu says this in a calm, level voice, but Hyogo can tell that it is not easy for her ‘We should be the ones risking our lives, not he. But he is right. There is no way they’d listen to us.’

For a moment the only sound is the howling of the wind inside the small building and the occasional shout, as Tahomaru tries to make himself heard over it.

‘Do you think they’ll listen to him?’

The wind stops as suddenly as it began. The siblings step away from the door, exchanging nervous glances. Slowly, the door opens and Tahomaru steps, or rather, stumbles out. He is barely able to walk, more exhausted than they have ever seen him before. They cannot tell whether it is a sign of demonic influence or a symptom of extreme stress, but a few streaks of grey have appeared in his hair. Other than that, though, he seems unharmed.

‘I did it,’ he breathes.

‘That’s good,’ Mutsu says, even though she is not entirely convinced. She’s just glad he isn’t hurt. ‘Now let’s get back to the castle. You need to rest.’

‘No.’ His voice is quiet, but firm. ‘There’s one more thing we need to do.’

* * *

‘Are you okay, Bro?!’

It’s totally unlike Hyakkimaru to trip over his own feet, yet, when Dororo turns around, he is lying face-down on the ground, looking confused, almost helpless. He tries to lift himself up using his arms, but they seem shaky and unstable. Then his face contorts into an expression of shock and pain. His eyes open wide, bulge further and further out until at last two balls of glass fall to the ground and roll away.

‘Wha?!’ Dororo cries out ‘This is no time to be goofing around! And besides, it looks creepy.’

Hyakkimaru opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, his arms collapse under his weight and he falls flat on his face.

He curls up into the closest thing to a fetal position he can manage with only one functioning limb, as, one by one, his prosthetics fall away from him. As Dororo watches him, overcome with panic, he is oddly reminded of a child’s baby teeth falling out...

... to make room for a new set.

The bones grow in first. A delicate network of veins and nerves forms around them. Flesh fills in the space between them, until at last a layer of pale skin begins to form on the surface. The process is, somehow, as fascinating as it it gross.

There is one more moment of panic as something breaks through the skin on Hyakkimaru’s back. Something snaps and small whitish _things_ spill all over the place.

‘S-seriously? Your spine?’ Dororo mutters, wincing. But there is surprisingly little blood, and the wound closes up almost immediately. Hyakkimaru writhes in pain as his dream comes true.

* * *

When he comes to, the world is different. For one thing, there’s the pain. It’s not very strong. Compared to some things he’s suffered, it barely even counts. But there is, nevertheless, pain in places where, until very recently, there was nothing at all. He moves, and a blade of grass tickles the palm of his hand.

He is a little afraid to open his eyes. He remembers the shock of feeling pain for the first time, the agony of being suddenly surrounded by sounds and unable to make any sense of them. He opens his eyes anyway, and immediately squeezes them shut again. As expected, the world is too bright. But now that he has seen a glimpse of the world, even for a moment, everything he can see with his soul seems so faint by comparison. Even the tiny amount of light coming in through closed eyelids is nearly enough to drown it out.

He tries again. He squints and shields his eyes against the bright light with a hand, but he does not close them. The world looks different. The colors are all wrong and he’s not sure what anything he can see is.

‘You’re awake!’ a moving shape says in a familiar voice ‘Are you okay?’

He points at the shape.

‘Dororo?’

‘Yeah, it's me! Can you see me?’

Hyakkimaru nods. Slowly the world is begining to make sense again. But there are some things he still doesn’t understand.

‘What?’ he tries to ask ‘How? My body... I didn’t... How?’ He’s getting the hang of sentences, really he is, but right now confused, disorganized thoughts come spilling from his mouth in no particular order.

‘Looks like someone’s done you a favor.’

His vision starts to blur as tears fill his new eyes. He has cried before, of course, many times, for many reasons. But he has never cried because he was happy, relieved, grateful, because suddenly someone was on his side. Is this something these eyes do?

‘Who?’ he says.

‘I dunno. But I’m really happy for you.’

There’s a sound of footsteps, then a rustling noise, and then three new shapes emerge from between the green and brown stuff he assumes to be trees. They look a little like Dororo, but bigger. More humans, he supposes.

‘There you are,’ one of them says. It sounds like the person they met by the lake. ‘We need to talk.’


	5. Life Goes On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: At one point I kinda wanted to write a multichapter AU, but ultimately decided not to. I had great ideas for the begining and end, but not enough in between. I'm using some of those ideas here (Some also appeared in chapter 3, I guess). So I guess that's why this story covers a longer period of time than most of the others.

It is not a pretty sight, but someone has to look at it and she is the only one here who is neither blind nor a small child. As Mio crouches down to examine the body, the odor of blood makes her nauseous.

‘You can’t smell it, can you?’ She turns around to see Hyakkimaru, standing helpfully behind her, shake his head. Of course he can’t. His eyes cannot see the carnage. His hands can’t feel the stiffness and coldness of the body as he leans down and helps her turn it over. He’s the perfect man for the job, really. She finds herself wondering if it makes it easier for him to kill, too.

* * *

When she dared to look outside, the soldiers were all gone. Most had run away, some leaving trails of blood behind them. Two men hadn’t been so lucky. They lay on the ground now, surrounded by pools of blood. Hyakkimaru stood in the middle of it all, a frightening bloodstained apparition, his swords gleaming in the early morning sunlight, still dripping blood.

Dororo was the first to move. He’d seen his brother in action before. He carefully ventured onto the little battlefield in search of Hyakkimaru’s discarded hands. Mio slowly approached Hyakkimaru, quietly humming his favorite song to make sure he knew it was her.

‘You saved us... ’ she whispered.

He lowered his blades. Mio pulled out a piece of cloth.

‘Here, let me clean those for you.’

He held them up obediently, like a little boy presenting his hands to show that he’s washed them. Only, they were not at all clean. Or, for that matter, hands. As she carefully wiped the blades with the cloth, Dororo walked up to them carrying the pair of wooden hands. Mio held them up for Hyakkimaru to put on. There was something oddly tender and intimate about the gesture, but when he reached out to touch her face, as soon as his hands were properly attatched, she found herself surprised that she could not feel the cold deadly steel underneath.

When she thinks about it later, she can’t help feeling confused. Is Hyakkimaru the ruthless killing machine she has just seen in action or is he the quiet, gentle boy who enjoys the sound of Mio’s voice and wordlessly assures her that her soul is beautiful? But this is not the right question, she realizes. She is only alive because he is capable of being both.

Hyakkimaru turns the corpses over and Mio recognizes both of their faces. She has seen these men inside Lord Daigo’s camp. She’s going to have to aviod the place now. So much for earning some extra money. But at least now she knows who the enemy is. This is very important, since she also realizes that her little group has just become a side in the war.

Hyakkimaru does not understand war and politics and the samurai, but he does understand that the men who tried to hurt Mio may come back. He becomes restless. The kids say that he seems worried every time Mio leaves the temple. He is always nearby, guarding the place against intruders, but he cannot sit still. He keeps standing up, as if to go somewhere, then sitting back down. Mio wishes he would speak already, but he does not and so she can only guess what is on his mind.

Several weeks pass. The soldiers do return a few more times. Each time a few are killed or maimed, but this does not stop their commanders from sending more. Mio suspects that they will keep coming for as long as there are people living at the temple. She keeps telling the kids that one day they will move to a new safe home, but she isn’t sure she believes it herself. The only place she knows of where they could hide from the soldiers is still occupied by the demon.

‘You still want to go fight it again?’

He sits back down quickly, looking embarrassed, as though she caught him doing something he shouldn’t.

‘You should go for it. We’ll be okay for a little while.’

He shakes his head. He will not leave his post, even for a moment, no matter how strongly he is drawn to the demon.

One day the old priest shows up again. He is surprised to find Hyakkimaru still there and even more surprised to hear his footsteps, still walking around with a chunk of wood where his right foot ought to be.

‘It’s not like you to give up,’ he says to him.

Late that night, at a time when an attack seems unlikely, Hyakkimaru gets up and goes outside. The old man tries to follow, but he gestures for him to stay.

‘He seemed relieved,’ the priest tells Mio in the morning.

Not long after, he turns to her, suddenly smiling.

‘He’s coming back,’ he says ‘and I think he made it this time.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I can hear it in his footsteps.’

She understands when Hyakkimaru comes close enough for her to see. His right foot is, once again, flesh. Excited, she runs up to him and greets him with a hug.

From that day onward everyone becomes more relaxed. The children laugh again and Hyakkimaru no longer covers his ears when they do. He listens when people talk to him and Mio can tell that he understands more and more each day, even if he still prefers to respond only with gestures.

It only takes them a couple of days to move into the house by the newly demon-free pit. It’s smaller than the temple and its roof is full of holes, but they should be able to repair it by winter.

After helping her set up the rice paddy, the priest wanders off once again, barely even saying goodbye. It doesn’t bother Mio much. She half-expects him to turn up again, seemingly out of nowhere, the next time she needs another pair of grown-up hands around. The old man comes and goes, she supposes, but he has an uncanny knack for showing up at just the right moment.

A few days later Hyakkimaru starts behaving oddly again, as though there’s something bothering him. As though, once again, something is calling to him, but he does not want to leave Mio’s side.

‘It’s okay now,’ she tells him ‘The demon is gone and the soldiers won’t find us here. You can relax now. We’re safe.’ This calms him down, but only for a little while.

Dororo is the one who figures it out.

‘It’s been great hanging out with you,’ he announces one summer evening ‘It’s like having a home! But we can’t stay here forever.’ He turns around to glance at Hyakkimaru, standing behind him, listening intently. ‘There’s still demons left to fight and I think Bro wants to go look for them soon.’ He turns around again and Hyakkimaru nods.

Mio thinks she shouldn’t be surprised. She knew this day would come. But she still feels like it came too early.

At last the two travellers gather their few posessions and say their goodbyes. For a moment Hyakkimaru stands in front of Mio looking nervous, uncertain. At last he speaks.

‘I come back. Promise.’ A whole sentence, just for her. He has never spoken more than one word at a time before. His hand moves to touch her face and she pulls him into a hug.

‘I’ll be waiting,’ she whispers.

And, as he walks away, Mio knows that some day, when his body is whole and hers is not for sale, they will meet again among the golden fields.


	6. Courage or Something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've been posting these stories in a more-or-less reverse chronological order and I wasn't sure where to place this one in the timeline. For a while I considered not including it at all. It mostly only changes the story of some minor characters (and one demon, I guess, but the demons were all doomed anyway :P ) without having too much effect on the main plot. But it turns out Saburota is surprisingly fun to write.

It seemed like it would all be over in a matter of seconds, when suddenly the monster let out another ear-splitting roar and turned its huge ugly head away. Blood gushed from its snake-like tail. Saburota could have used this opportunity to run for his life. He didn’t. Was it because he was paralyzed with fear? He knew it couldn’t be, because he was tough and didn’t get scared easily. And, hey, _not_ running away was the brave thing to do, wasn’t it? So he would just stay where he was and... uh... see what happens next.

The demon charged at the newcomer, who slashed at its face with one of his two swords and tried to bury the other in its flesh. He moved quickly, dodging the monster’s claws and teeth, attacking it without hesitation. Saburota had never seen anything quite like it.

‘Watch out!’ he heard his mother’s voice in his ear. Then he saw what she meant. The creature’s cut-off tail wasn’t quite dead yet. Writhing around on the ground it was making its way toward them. And it had another head at the end, with a mouth full of teeth.

Saburota forced himself to move. He drew his own sword and flailed it wildly in the general direction of the crawling tail. He managed to cut it a couple of times and, at last, stab right through the head and pin it to the ground. When it stopped moving, he looked ahead again.

The monster was bleeding profusely now. The strange warrior had somehow managed to climb onto its back and was slashing and stabbing furiously at its head. Just now both his blades went in so deep that he appeared to be up to his elbows in the creature’s brain. The monster’s entire body went limp and collapsed. After a moment the stranger gracefully descended from the dead monster’s back and, at last, Saburota could get a good look at him.

The stranger was young, barely more than a child, really. He was dressed in a traveller’s cloak with some worn-out rags underneath. And, oh yeah, he appeared to be part-machine. There were many subtle oddities to his appearence, but the most striking one was his arms, which ended abruptly somewhere around the elbows. In place of hands he had a pair of blades. Sure, why not? It’s not like this day could get any weirder.

‘We should thank this brave young man,’ Ma hissed into Saburota’s ear. Should they really? Well, allright. He sheathed his sword, but his hand still hovered over the hilt, just in case, as he aproached the stranger.

‘Hey,’ he said ‘You really helped us out. Thanks.’

No response. He just stood there, watching the beast’s carcass expectantly, as though he thought it might do something interesting.

‘Who are you anyway?’ Saburota asked. No response.

‘Hey! Are you listening?’

Suddenly the stranger’s eyes opened wide (There was something strange about those eyes too, Saburota thought) and his entire body began to shake. Then something fell to the ground.

Saburota knelt down to examine the thing that used to be attatched in place of the stranger’s right arm. Ma let go of his back with a displeased grunt and sat down on the ground next to him. The fallen object was a machine of some sort, made of wood and metal, with a sword embedded in it. Suddenly something small but forceful pushed Saburota out of the way.

‘Don’t touch that sword!’ a child’s voice shouted ‘I already called dibs!’

‘You did?’ He looked around at a small dirty child crouching to extract the blade.

‘Yeah,’ the little boy said. Another hand reached in and grabbed the sword out of his hands.

‘But I’m gonna let him keep it for as long as he needs it,’ he continued, unfazed ‘Or maybe I’ll wait until he drops the other one too. Hyakkimaru and I have an agreement.’

But Saburota wasn’t listening. He looked up at the hand that had picked up the sword. It belonged to the strange swordsman himself. Since when did he _have_ a hand? Maybe this day _could_ get weirder after all. He stood up and followed the swordsman.

‘Who are you?’ he asked again ‘Why did you help us? What’s with the hand? Wh-’.

‘He can’t hear you,’ the kid said, standing up. He was carrying what appeared to be a pair of wooden hands under his arm. ‘Can’t see, either, at least not the way you and I do.’ He held up one of the fake hands and Hyakkimaru inserted his blade into it. The fingers moved.

‘If he can’t see or hear, how come you have an agreement? And how come you know his name?’

The kid shrugged.

‘We’re real close,’ he said happily ‘We understand each other without words!’

‘Oh.’

‘And apparently he can write a little. Too bad I can’t read.’

‘I see. Can I try something?’

The kid shrugged.

‘If he lets you.’

Saburota crouched down and wrote his questions in the dirt with a finger.

‘Can you get him to read that?’

The kid ran up to Hyakkimaru, grasped his hand and guided him toward ‘WHO ARE YOU?’. Eager to feel things with his new hand, the older boy traced the lines with his fingers. He pointed to himself.

‘Yes, you!’ Saburota said before realizing it was pointless.

Hyakkimaru wrote three characters in the dirt and pointed to himself again. Then he pointed at Saburota.

‘Is he asking my name?’ Saburota whispered to the kid.

‘I think so.’

After learning Saburota’s name Hyakkimaru pointed at the kid.

‘He doesn’t know your name?’

‘Well, I can’t write it. It’s Dororo, by the way. Tell him that!’

Hyakkimaru wasn’t exactly eloquent. He communicated mostly in single words and gestures, and had trouble reading longer sentences, but with a little effort from both sides it was enough to allow for basic communication and Saburota was determined to find out more about this strange person. Dororo soon got bored when Saburota refused to translate everything for him, and went to sit with the old lady.

‘Is that your big brother?’ Saburota heard her ask, but he didn’t bother to listen to the answer. He’ll ask his Ma later.

As the odd conversation went on, another idea popped into Saburota’s head. He didn’t want to be seen as a coward after all, especially not by someone like this.

‘DUEL’ he wrote. Hyakkimaru didn’t seem to know that word.

‘PLAY-FIGHT’ he tried again. If he could tell the difference at all, it was probably the safer option anyway. Not that he was going to write that, or say it out loud.

‘TIRED’ was the response.

‘Fair enough,’ Saburota said before writing ‘LATER.’ He stood up and turned to Dororo.

‘We gotta get going now,’ he said ‘But make sure he’s here tomorrow at dawn.’

* * *

‘That poor lad,’ Ma said some time later ‘It must have been nice for him to meet someone who can understand him, though.’

‘I _can’t_ understand him!’ Saburota shook his head ‘I asked him how come he wasn’t afraid of that demon and he said he _was_. That he could see its soul and it was pure evil. He knew it could kill him. But he fought it anyway.’

‘Maybe he knew what would happen when he kills it,’ she said ‘Or maybe he just noticed that we needed help...’

‘But he was scared. And he did it anyway.’

Ma chuckled.

‘Silly boy,’ she said ‘Courage isn’t about never being afraid. Brave people are afraid all the time. They just don’t let it control them. They deal with scary things if they think it’s worth the trouble.’ He could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Like going on a long dangerous journey to get your sick old mother to the doctor.’

‘It’s not that scary,’ he protested ‘At least, I didn’t _think_ it would be, heading out’ he added ‘Not being afraid is easy. Few things really scare me. But...’ He sighed ‘they’re the difficult ones, you know?’

‘Maybe you just need some practice,’ she said brightly. She always believed in him, no matter what. Honestly, it was almost infuriating, not being allowed to simply give up. ‘You could try getting out of your comfort zone a little.’

‘You’re right as usual,’ he said, forcing a confident smile onto his face ‘I should try to travel a bit. Maybe I’ll get a job in another town. Will you be okay on your own, Ma?’

‘I’m sure our neighbors will help me out if I need anything.’

There went his last excuse.

‘Very well. I could try joining an army... Or maybe... ’

‘By the way,’ she interrupted ‘How were you planning to make it back there by tomorrow morning?’


	7. Someone to Live For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about this one: The first scene is one of the first few ideas I had for this series, but I only came up with the last one after I'd posted part 6.  
I'm not satisfied with the title, but I didn't wanna spend another month trying to think of a better one.

When the mask fell off, Dororo couldn’t help recoiling a little. He was not prepared for what he saw. The stranger’s face, if you could call it that, was raw exposed flesh, more like an open wound than anything else. His eyes didn’t seem to reflect the light quite right, either. In his shock, the little boy stumbled and fell flat on his butt.

When he felt the mask under his hand, he picked it up reflexively. He should give it back, shouldn’t he? But before he could even stand up, something began to happen to the stranger’s face. The patches appearing and spreading all over his cheeks and forhead had the color and texture of pale human skin.

Dororo had so many questions. But before he could ask any, he heard the hurried, somewhat heavy footsteps. The man ran right past the child, barely noticing him. The strange swordsman turned toward the newcomer. His face now looked normal, almost handsome.

‘Hyakkimaru!’ the newcomer panted ‘Are you allright? You shouldn’t run off like that!’

Dororo looked up at the two of them.

‘You know him?’

The older man looked down at the little boy. A thick beard covered much of his face. The rest of it was a concerned frown. The answer occurred to Dororo before he had the time to say anything.

‘Are you his papa?’ he asked.

The man didn’t answer immediately. He looked as though the question had taken him completely by surprise.

‘I...’ He hesitated. ‘I’m afraid I’m the closest thing he’s got. What happened here?’ he asked.

Dororo looked up at the older boy, expecting him to tell his side of the story, but he seemed to be ignoring the entire conversation. Dororo shrugged and began to tell the story himself, shouting and gesturing broadly for emphasis.

‘There was a monster! A huge thing made of slime and garbage! It ate three people! And then it grabbed me, but that’s when he attacked it!’ He turned to look at the older boy again, but he didn’t seem to be listening, as he sat down to unwrap the bandages covering his right leg. ‘He was so cool!’

‘Mhm,’ the older man said ‘It must have been another demon...’

‘Ooh!’ Dororo interrupted. This was even more exciting than he'd thought. ‘Are you guys demonslayers?’

The man sighed.

‘I suppose you could call Hyakkimaru that,’ he said ‘It’s his quest, really, but I couldn’t let him go alone. In his condition... I’m the only one who can somewhat communicate with him. I’m afraid there will be some things on this journey that he must do on his own. But until then, I’m with him.’

* * *

For as long as he could remember it had always been just the two of them, he and his caregiver. There were other people, of course. There were always other people around. But they came and went, and never seemed to stick around for more than a few days. Why? He didn’t know. He had never understood anything they did. This was how he had come to realize that he was different. Other people were always interacting in ways he didn’t understand or reacting to things he was not aware of. Clearly there was more to the world than what he could sense.

He had always wondered what it was like to be one of these people, but they tended to ignore him when they realized he was not like them, and his caregiver could not explain it to him. There were many things his caregiver clearly understood, but couldn’t explain, and many more that he himself had no way of asking. He supposed that the big, slightly faded soul must see the world differently from him. More like the other people, he supposed. Yet, for years this person had been the only one who stuck around. Everybody else came and went.

But recently the small bright soul from under the bridge seemed to be following them. He had sensed its presence many times over the last couple of days. It tended to keep its distance, but he could tell it didn’t just happen to be traveling in the same direction by chance. He sensed no malicious intent, though. Just a smaller than average human soul, sparkling with curiosity.

And he was curious too. What kind of person was so interested in him? What kind of person followed them, but didn’t join the group? Didn’t such tiny souls usually have a bigger one nearby? Where was this one’s?

At first he wasn’t sure how to draw his caregiver’s attention to it without scaring either of them, but something had changed since the incident with the demon. The world didn’t seem any different to him, but he must have appeared different to the world. His caregiver could read his emotions much better now, even without any gestures or shapes drawn on the ground. When he stopped walking and pointed to a tree the little one was hiding behind, his caregiver could tell that it was nothing to worry about. The little one, too, clearly sensed that they meant it no harm. It seemed embarrassed to be caught sneaking around, but it walked with them from this point on. He watched it interacting with his caregiver, as other people so often did, in ways he could not understand, the patterns in their souls changing in response to each other. Sometimes it even walked up to him. Its gestures and emotions weren’t too hard to decipher and with time it learned to understand him too, as much as anyone did.

* * *

For all that Jukai claimed to be able to communicate with Hyakkimaru, through gestures the boy could somehow sense, though Jukai had no idea how, through emotions which he could apparently recognize by some possibly supernatural means, and limited writing, he was never quite sure how much he truly understood. Dororo, the child who had been traveling with them for a while now, swore that he was getting through to him, now that he had a sense of touch, but, when pressed, all he admitted to having found out so far was that Hyakkimaru was not ticklish. It wasn’t much, but Jukai appreciated the effort, and hoped that Hyakkimaru did too.

At least, and it had been a huge relief to be sure of that, the boy could clearly tell friend from foe, human from wild animal from monster. At least, just as with the white-haired man before, Hyakkimaru clearly wasn’t fighting to kill. Still, Jukai would feel much better if it wasn’t Dororo running and jumping to dodge his blade. He didn’t want to see either of these kids injured.

‘Drop the sword, Dororo!’ he shouted ‘He’ll stop if you drop the sword!’

‘I can’t!’ the child shouted back ‘It won’t let me!’

But his grip loosened just enough for the next blow to knock the sword out of his hands. Someone who didn’t know what to look for wouldn’t have noticed, but Hyakkimaru breathed a little sigh of relief as he slid his forearm back on. Dororo looked up at him, smiled, said something too quietly to hear and fell over, exhausted from the fight and from resisting the sword’s influence.

That thing must be really powerful, the doctor thought. He himself had hardly ever managed to make the kid do anything. What the hell even was that sword? He crouched down to examine the blade that had fallen at his feet. He reached for it, but before he could touch it, a wooden hand closed around his wrist. It guided his hand, like he had often guided it, away from danger. He looked up.

‘You’re right,’ he whispered, even though the boy could not hear him ‘You’re absolutely right.’ How could he have handled being ordered, once again, to kill, by a voice so difficult to disobey? He shuddered at the thought, but then he couldn’t help smiling. Clearly, he’d managed to teach him something after all. ‘I’d better go see to the kid.’

* * *

The sword broke with surprising ease under Hyakkimaru’s artificial foot. The white-haired man fell over. Jukai rushed over to him. He had been a doctor for too long not to. As he attempted to stop the bleeding, the young woman they met earlier kneeled down on the ground next to him.

‘Brother!’ she whispered with tears in her eyes.

‘He’s not dead yet,’ the doctor pointed out, even though it was quite close and he wasn’t sure whether he could do anything about it.

‘No,’ she said, still sobbing, ‘But... He’s told me... what has happened... what he’s done, and... that’s not the big brother I remember...’

‘It isn’t’ Jukai agreed ‘It was the sword. I don’t know how it works, but it makes people do things they don’t want to do...’ he smiled sadly ‘I imagine he was just following orders.’

‘You don’t like soldiers, do you?’

It took him a moment to find a good answer.

‘I don’t like the orders they are sometimes given. But I know what happens to those who don’t follow. Here,’ He pointed to a piece of bandage ‘hold this in place for me. For him.’

She did, but it did not distract her quite as well as he’d expected.

‘If he survives,’ she said ‘How is he going to live with all this guilt?’

Jukai shrugged. After all these years, he was still figuring it out himself.

‘It will not be easy,’ he agreed. He glanced over at Hyakkimaru, standing a few paces away, clutching the sides of his head, and Dororo fussing over him. ‘But if he’s got someone to live for, that should probably help.’

The woman’s gaze followed his. She nodded.

‘I can look after my brother,’ she said ‘You should probably see to your children.’

He didn’t argue.


	8. Favors

Ojiya wasn’t sure about this. Yes, the people in town had said that the man never asked anyone for more than they could spare, but, well, she had _nothing_ to spare at all. Dororo had practically dragged her here, insisting that it had to be worth a try. The little one had inherited his father’s stubborn nature and, endearing as it was in a six-year-old, Ojiya sometimes worried it might get him into trouble later in life. But how could she teach him that there were some battles just he couldn’t win, if all the misfortunes in his short life hadn’t taught him that? And more importantly, should she even try? Maybe it was just his way of coping with things?

‘Come on, Mama!’ Dororo tugged at her sleeve, careful not to touch her hand, and it occurred to her that he might be right about this. Until the burns heal, she would not be able to work or to steal, to hold a weapon or a tool. She had no way to support herself or her child. She couldn’t even hold her child’s hand properly. And the burns were not healing. She followed her son to the door and took a deep breath while he knocked.

A moment later a man appeared in the door. His large frame and thick beard could have been intimidating, if it wasn’t for the look on his face, which was something between a polite smile and a worried frown.

‘How can I help you?’ he asked.

‘Are you the doctor?’ Dororo asked before his mother could open her mouth.

‘Yes, I am,’ said the man ‘What - ?’

‘We need you to look at Mama’s hands!’ the child interrupted.

‘Don’t be rude!’ Ojiya hissed at him.

Dororo crossed his arms and sighed theatrically. He looked up at the doctor.

‘_Please_.’

The man chuckled.

‘Very well. I’ll see what I can do.’ He turned to Ojiya. ‘Let me see your hands, please.’

At first, she didn’t move.

‘I think you should know,’ she said ‘that I can’t afford to pay you.’

Dororo gave her a meaningful look. She understood it perfectly, but he didn’t understand that if she didn’t tell the truth right now, there could be trouble later. If she admitted it upfront, the worst that could happen was getting turned away there and then. It wasn’t like she was expecting to get anything more for free than well-meaning advice she couldn’t afford to follow. But the doctor did not shut the door in her face.

‘There’s no need to worry about money,’ he said, still smiling. Ojiya froze. Was he going to make _that_ kind of offer? Men who did often got aggressive when women refused and Ojiya knew that she could not give in. It wasn’t just about her own dignity, either. She supposed some of the things she had done to survive were worse, anyway. The crime, the violence, the desperate begging, bowing down to people she had no respect for. But in moments like this she could feel the marks on her back _burn_. She could never risk letting a stranger see them. If she did, she would only endanger the child she was trying so hard to protect.

‘I have _nothing_ to offer you.’ She took a step back, pulling her child closer to her.

The man flinched as though she had slapped him, which was, aside from the state of her hands, the main reason she didn’t. He hadn’t actually meant _that_, had he?

‘I...’ he stuttered, holding up his hands defensively ‘I didn’t mean anything like that!’

‘Then what did you mean?’ Ojiya’s voice was calmer now, though her heart was still pounding.

‘I have my reasons,’ he said, not looking her in the eye, ‘for wanting to help those who need it. Even if they have no way to repay me. I can help you out for free, or let you pay me back later, if you don’t want to accept charity.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ said Ojiya.

‘Now, about your injury. Your hands - ?’

‘I burned them,’ she explained ‘And it’s been many days, but the burns are not healing.’

‘Hm,’ the doctor said ‘I should take a look at them. It is starting to get dark, though. I would like to look at them by daylight, if that’s possible.’

‘You want us to stay the night?’

‘That would be ideal, yes.’

Ojiya hesitated. For all she knew, this man could hurt her or her child if she let her guard down. For all he knew, they could rob him while he slept.

‘If you don’t mind, we’ll look for another place to sleep.’

‘Suit yourselves. It’s likely to be a cold night, though. I’ll lend you some spare blankets.’

‘That would be nice. Thanks.’ Did this man really want nothing more than to help a stranger in need?

‘I imagine you’re hungry too?’

She didn’t bother to deny it. They could both see Dororo’s eyes light up at the thought of free food. The doctor introduced himself as Jukai. They followed him into the house, looking around, the mother with caution, the child with curiosity. Jukai walked up to the pot bubbling away over the fire and stirred it.

‘If I cook some extra rice,’ he said thoughtfully ‘we should be able to stretch it enough for the four of us...’

‘Four?’ Dororo looked around the room, as if expecting one more person to appear out of nowhere.

‘Yes,’ Jukai said ‘There is one more person living here. He should be back soon.’

It was a strange answer, Ojiya thought, and it didn’t really explain anything.

Just then there was a noise outside, like wood scraping on wood. It repeated itself a couple of times until at last the door slid part of the way open. Jukai walked over to fully open it, letting in a boy or young man whose features Ojiya couldn’t make out at first. When he came closer, she realized just how odd his appearence was. The boy looked more like a doll brought to life than a human being. His arms and legs were clearly made of wood, his face had no expression and his eyes shone like glass in the dim light.

‘This is Hyakkimaru,’ the doctor said ‘He’s... well, he’s been living with me for these past fourteen years or so.’

He did not introduce his guests to the boy, who didn’t say anything either. Hyakkimaru looked at the two of them, or at least in their direction, but didn’t really seem to acknowledge their presence. Dororo walked up to him and held out a hand.

‘Pleased to meet you!’ he said cheerfully ‘I’m Dororo. My Mama - ’

‘I’m afraid he can’t hear you,’ said Jukai ‘He’s deaf.’

‘Oh, well... ’ Dororo, still grinning, grasped the older boy’s right hand in both of his and shook it vigorously. Then he turned to Jukai ‘Why is he like this?’

‘I’m pretty sure he was born this way,’ the doctor said before Ojiya could tell Dororo off for asking rude questions ‘He was like this when I found him. I did what I could to give him some semblance of a normal life, but I couldn’t do much about his eyes or ears.’

A few minutes later Jukai handed out bowls of vegetable stew and rice to everyone. Ojiya nearly forgot her manners as she began to shovel the food into her mouth. It probably wasn’t the best she had ever tasted, but that was what it felt like to be eating her first hot meal in days.

‘When did you last eat?’ the doctor asked her.

‘Oh. Sorry,’ the woman said ‘Yesterday, we found some berries in the forest...’

‘And that was all you ate that day?’

She nodded.

‘This might be part of the issue,’ he said ‘Your body is too weak to heal properly. If you don’t eat everyday and sleep every night, the healing process is bound to be slow.’

The woman just sighed in frustration. Did he think she didn’t know starving wasn’t good for her? What was she supposed to do? Tell the next person she begs for scraps of food that a doctor had prescribed it? But she knew better than to say any of this to someone who had showed her so much kindness without demanding anything in return.

* * *

She awoke the next morning, still in the same room. She didn’t even remember deciding to stay here; she had just relaxed, allowed herself to trust her host and realized just how tired she was. While she slept, someone had covered her with a wonderfully soft blanket. But when she sat up and looked around, she realized that she was all alone. The doctor, the boy who looked like a doll and, most importantly, her own child, were nowhere to be seen. She got up quickly and ran outside, calling Dororo’s name.

The doctor was sitting on the porch, carefully carving a piece of wood into a shape resembling a human toe. He looked up.

‘Your boy is safe,’ he said calmly ‘There’s no need to worry. You can wait for him here.’

It took some convincing, but she calmed down and let the doctor look at her injury. By the time he finished applying an ointment and wrapping her hands in clean bandages, the two boys were back, a little dirty, but unharmed. Hyakkimaru was as silent and seemingly emotionless as the night before. Dororo was laughing.

‘Mama!’ he called cheerfully ‘I was gonna wake you up, but the doc said not to, so instead I followed Hyakkimaru. He showed me the river and where to find a lot of cool bugs, and a tree that’s really fun to climb! And then this weird creature showed up. I have no idea what it was. And it tried to bite us, and for a moment I was scared, but then he hit it with that wooden sword he’s got. And its blood was green!’ Well, that explained the stains. ‘That was so cool! I wish I could fight like that!’

Ojiya smiled.

‘They seem to be getting along well... ’

It was almost a shame they couldn’t stick around longer.

‘Actually,’ Jukai said ‘I would like to ask you a favor after all.’

Ojiya’s smile vanished instantly. She should have known this was too good to be true. And now she actually owed this man a favor. But what he said next surprised her.

‘I’ve never seen Hyakkimaru make a friend before. I can’t be with him all the time and I’d feel better if he was with someone who can talk to people. In case he needs help. He usually knows where to look for me, but... ’

Ojiya stared at the man, confused. What was he getting at?

‘Could you or your son keep him company sometimes, while you’re here?’

‘While we’re here?’

‘You need to rest if you want to recover. You should stay a few more days, at least.’

‘I... Thank you... Thank you so much!’

Dororo looked up at her, puzzled.

‘Why are you crying, Mama? This is good. Right?’

* * *

Nearly two years had passed. Ojiya’s burns had healed long ago barely leaving any scars on her hands, but there had always been some reason to stay just a little longer. The winter had been exceptionally harsh and in the spring the doctor had needed help with some chores and so on. Nobody ever said it out loud, but they both knew it was all just an excuse. To let a woman and child who had already suffered enough stay safe and warm for a few more nights. To let two kids who had never had a close friend before spend more time together. To keep this peaceful, comforatble life just a little longer.

It was a nice quiet afternoon. The last patient of the day had just left. The boys were out in the woods. Dororo had said they were going to look for herbs, but Hyakkimaru would probably somehow find a ghoul to fight again. This didn’t worry the parents too much, especially since they’d realized that Hyakkimaru had been teaching the younger boy to use a sword as well. Together the two were unstoppable, and it was amazing how well they had learnt to communicate and to learn from one another. It was a nice quiet afternoon. Until, suddenly, it wasn’t.

‘Mama! Doc!’ Dororo shouted as he ran towards the house. He was alone.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘Come quick! I need help! It’s Hyakkimaru!’

‘What’s happened to him?’

‘Is he hurt?’

Dororo stopped running, took a few deep breaths and frowned.

‘Actually...’ he said ‘I think it’s kind of... the opposite, if that makes sense?’

Jukai looked just as confused as Ojiya felt.

‘You might wanna bring some bandages, though,’ Dororo added and soon all three of them were running to see the miracle.


	9. A Healthy Baby Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the last one. Can't really go any further back.  
Thanks for all the kudos and awesome comments :)

A man sits outside the castle, just under the roof, gazing out into the rain-soaked garden, unsure what exactly it is that he should be doing right now. He is the lord of this land and master of this castle, or at least he is under normal circumstances. But it turns out that, at least in the midwife’s professional opinion, there is nothing more unnecessary during childbirth than a father. Perhaps he shouldn’t have turned around? But he did, and now he sits outside his wife’s room, too anxious to focus on his duties, unable to make himself useful to his wife and child, waiting. Why did he turn back? If he didn’t, he imagines he’d be turning his fate around at this very moment.

Behind him a woman cries out in pain. His wife. He isn’t sure whether this is supposed to happen. Perhaps there is something wrong? Even if there is, he cannot do much about it, and the powerlessness is driving him mad. In his mind he half-prays and half-complains to any gods that could possibly be listening.

_Please,_ he thinks bitterly,_ if the entire domain is too much, at least protect my family. If you cannot give me fame and glory, at least give me an heir who will carry on my legacy, so our name can go down in history... _

And so on. He doubts this will have any effect. After all, none of his other, increasingly desperate prayers had been heard so far. If these, too, are ineffective, he promises himself (or, perhaps, threatens the gods), he will ask for... No. He will _demand_ help elsewhere. Yesterday he was not sure whether he could actually bring himself to do it, but right now he knows for sure that less than two hours ago he was already halfway there.

The path was steep, narrow and slippery with mud, with the occasional stone or tree root waiting to trip up the unwary. His horse seemed unwilling to go any further, as though it understood the significance of this place or sensed its rider’s intent. For a moment he considered dismounting and simply walking the rest of the way. No. How could he aspire to rule over vast lands with many people in them, if he couldn’t even make a trained animal do its job? He nudged the horse, urging it to move faster and, reluctantly, it obeyed.

Just then he heard a voice, someone shouting over the pouring rain, calling his name. He stopped and looked around. The man, one of his servants, caught up with him. He was soaked with rain, splashed with mud and nearly out of breath. Apparently, he had ran all the way up here. The lord allowed him to stand there gasping for air for a few moments.

‘Well?’ he said when he decided he had waited enough.

The servant bowed respectfully.

‘I have important news, My Lord,’ he said.

‘Well then, hurry up,’ said the lord, glaring down at the man, ‘I have important business to attend to.’

‘It’s your lady wife, sir.’

The lord raised his eyebrows, wondering if he should be worried. His wife, his unborn child, his _future_...

‘Is she unwell?’

‘Not at all, My Lord,’ the servant assured.

‘Well then?’ He really didn’t have time to guess.

‘She has gone into labor.’

‘Already? I thought she was not due for another week?’

‘Oh!’ The servant looked surprised now, and a little nervous. Was there something wrong? ‘That’s nothing to worry about, sir,’ he stuttered ‘It happens from time to time. My daughter was born nearly a month ahead of time and... well... she _was_ sickly as a baby, but now... ’

But the lord had neither time nor patience for the servant’s ramblings. He turned his horse around as quickly as it was possible on this narrow path.

‘In that case, thank you for the good news,’ he said and sped off toward his castle, before this man could begin to wonder what important business his master might have, all alone, out here on the path to that cursed shrine.

As soon as he was back at the castle he realized that there was not much he could do, but wait. As he sits outside his wife’s room, his own uselessness drives him mad. His mind keeps returning to the same set of thoughts, over and over again. Will his wife be alright? He has heard that childbirth often takes a toll on a woman’s health. Will his child be healthy? Is it a boy or a girl? What kind of world will he or she grow up in? What kind of future awaits him and his domain? _Was it a mistake to turn back?_

A new sound snaps him out of it. It is loud and high-pitched, and it takes him a few seconds to realize that it is, in fact, the baby, crying out with its first breath, anouncing its presence to the world. The new father stands up and walks up to the door. He looks inside. His wife is pale and tired, and her clothes and hair are in a state of disarray, but she is smiling. Several women, the midwife, her assistants and a few servants, are fussing over her. An short elderly woman gently holds a small wriggling bundle in her arms.

‘Is it born?’ he asks, despite already knowing the answer.

‘Yes, My Lord.’

The elderly midwife grins broadly.

‘It is a boy, sir,’ she says, rocking the child in her arms ‘A healthy baby boy.’

‘An heir,’ says the lord ‘Excellent.’ For what feels like the first time in his reign, something has actually turned out as planned. ‘May I see him?’

‘Of course.’ The woman hands the little bundle over to him.

The boy is smaller than he imagined. He seems so fragile. It is almost hard to believe that all men, no matter how great, begin their lives like this. But, despite his small size and fragile appearence, the baby seems full of energy. The father can feel his child’s tiny arms wriggling inside the carefully wrapped blanket, eager to reach out and grab things. He feels the little legs kicking, and wonders where they will take this child some day. And, as the baby’s eyes, still new and unfocused, seem to fix on his face, just for a moment, he thinks that maybe this unfortunate land has a future after all. Maybe he is holding it in his arms.


End file.
